Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An instrument, implement, or container used domestically, especially in a kitchen. See Synonyms at tool.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An instrument or implement: as, utensils of war; now, more especially, an instrument or vessel in common use in a kitchen, dairy, or the like, as distinguished from agricultural implements and mechanical tools.
- n. Synonyms Implement, Instrument, etc. See tool.
Wiktionary
- n. An instrument or device for domestic use, in the kitchen, or in war.
- n. A small hand tool or material-handling implement specialized for specific types of processing such as is used in the kitchen or a laboratory.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. That which is used; an instrument; an implement; especially, an instrument or vessel used in a kitchen, or in domestic and farming business.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an implement for practical use (especially in a household)
Etymologies
- Ultimately from Latin utensilis ("usable"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French utensile, from Latin ūtēnsilia, utensils, from neuter pl. of ūtēnsilis, fit for use, from ūtī, to use. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The best all around cast iron cooking utensil is the dutch oven, the real ones that have legs and a rim around the lid to hold coals.”
What is the best cast iron skillet for deep frying mr. walleye on shore lunches.
“I'm not the sort of pencil connoisseur to use pretentious French words (whoops -- too late) and imply that using the ideal writing utensil is some kind of transcendental experience.”
“This utensil is essentially a sauce bowl, the salsa being prepared by grinding the ingredients together.”
The Mexican Kitchen, Heart Of The Home: Part I - Cooking Equipment, Modern And Traditional
“It will be found always covered, whenever the utensil is not empty, by condensed offensive moisture.”
“But it actually made me a good field interviewer because I knew nothing about farming and other aspects of rural life and this ignorance actually legitimized my rather mundane questions about such things as what the farmers called the utensil they use to fry eggs with, the machinery they use to reap their harvests, and what they call their animals.”
“The utensil was a 75th birthday present from artist Ken Marshall to his friend Bob Stane, an area coffeehouse/showroom owner.”
“However, you are not allowed to do it because you might get confused and also kasher a non-kosher utensil, which is not allowed.”
“The utensil was a combination knife/fork/spoon that the child had planned to use to eat his lunch.”
“There were six of them with a ribbon tied around their reed-thin handles, some kind of utensil, though it took me a minute to figure out what.”
“PS I have a question, so what kind of utensil vase do you have exactly?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘utensil’.
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The Penis Game
Euphemisms for the penis.
See also:
A Testicle by Any Other Name
Ward, I'm worried about the beavermale interfemoral..., penis, dick, cock, prick, willy, percy, peter, one-eyed trouser ..., piece of pork, wife's best friend, dong and 79 more...
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New Words
No definite conception of these words.
reggaeton, fugacious, astray, artillery, quietism, heteronomy, plebeian, remit, hypostasize, discountenance, rictus, wail and 60 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Ugliest Words Ever
words that I refuse to say out loud.
tuna, uranus, bulbous, vaginal, rectum, cunnilingus, flatulance, pedagogy, blooper, booger, beefy, polyp and 116 more...
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junestag's Words
postmodernism, cat, fish, rabbit, dell, coffee, elearning, mazda, php, mysql, flash, blogger and 755 more...
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Vaguesswork
Things held by a weaselspeaker. (Katigans without the madeupicals.)
obfuscation, obtuse, apparatus, element, it, existence, information, point, substance, stuff, sometimes, person and 47 more...
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EAP 90
gossip, Collar, compassionate, insightful, alliances, superiority, versus, discrimination, flaw, broad, commoner, miniature and 32 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, U
udder, undercarriage, umpteen, umbrage, upholstery, unnerving, ubiquitous, ultraviolet, untoward, upheaval, unabashed, uncanny and 86 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for utensil.
plethora I have honestly heard this used, non-ironically, as a penis euphemism. Jul 18, 2008